It that time of the year again! You guys know what that mean cleaning buses! And returning them back to the compound!

I thought we all could give each other some tips on how to clean our buses. Even give some tips to the newer drivers in the transportation field.

Before we go into details.... Let first talk about what should we do before getting into cleaning details. Well I know before I get into cleaning details. I first...

1. Unlatch all the seats, and flip the seats up.

2. Sweep down the bus (starting from the back and work your way up to the front of the bus.)

3. Be sure to get in-between the seats, under, and in-between the seats bar or crack that is up against the passenger's sides. (Be sure to be on a look out for gums and candy's wraps.)

4. Remove all of your personal belongings off the bus; take down anything that you have above the passengerís windows, and anything that you have hanging in the front on the overhead.

5. Now let the cleaning being!

Seats:

On my Thomas international the interior are Brown. The only thing I'm having a problem with is, what products should I use that won't cause the interior to turn into that white looking color?

Floor:

I know for my floor since it is black I'm planning on using pine-sol. After I mop it down with that, I will than use floor wax.

Ceiling/Hatches:

I might try using that orange (made from orange juice) product that might help washes the dirt away, and helps give it that shining look. What you guys think? For the hatches I'm going to use hot bleach water to wash the dirt away to make them look whiter.

Driver's cockpit:

I plan to use armor all it is a car polish and it really work great on black and gray. Since my Thomas cockpit is black and gray I thought it would help give it that nice shine.

Windows (inside):

I use this products called next dimension, and let me tell it work great. Just one wipe and you are done.

Hopefully I will pass the cleaning inspection. In our district we must have the inside clean before returning it to the compound. If you don't pass the cleaning inspection they will return your bus back to you and have you clean it again (only for the area they want you to go over again not the whole bus.) I know cause my first year I had forgot to clean in-between the seats. They are very strict when it come to inspection the buses. I was just wondering do any of you guys go though this with your transportation?

Sorry for this long post, hope we all can come to together and gather up some information on how to clean our buses.

After removing all of my seat cushions and getting out the paper wrapers, skittles and gum, the fun begins. Dipping into my stash of cleaning supplies for the annual big clean up, it goes like this:

WD-40; for dried gum, Skittles, etc.Pine Sol; overhead, sides and floor.Mop & Glo; for the floor.MX-7; outside of windows for mineral deposits and drops. Also used with a honey-combed sponge for application. Gloves are required when using this product.Windex; inside windows.Tools; razor knife, putty knife, flat screw drivers and Phillips.Spray Bottles; for tire dressing (commercial grade).Color Back; by Turtle Wax (optional) if your feeling energetic for the outside.Lots of old bath towels from yard sales or t-shirts.

To all you drivers there is a wonder product which removes ball point pen ink as well as white out and the gel inks and sharpie pen inks. That product is Citrol manufactured by Shaeffer Specialized Lubricants. It is not cheap but most inks you take a scrub brush to the area after treating it with a liberal spratying of citrol. Some inks may require several treatments. Sharpie inks require several treatments spread out over a month and the sharpie imiage just fades away. the tool free number is 1-800-325-9962.

I have heard 3M makes a GREAT deoxidizer/wax that puts Turtle Wax Color Back to shame. You might take a look at www.3m.com and take a look at the wax products. I am going to try it on some of the older model buses that need waxing.

913 is the next best thing to a Caddilac!NOW, 2209 is the next best thing to a LINCOLN NAVIGATOR

Be careful waxing the old buses; I tried that once and waxed the old, oxidized paint right off the metal! It was an '87 Wayne...excellent buses except for the paint.

Remember not to use ArmorAll or similar products on the steering wheel or on the seats! It makes it too slippery to drive!

When cleaning the bus, don't forget to steam off the engine compartment and the undercarriage. If you don't have experience doing this, have a mechanic assist you so you don't do damage to the components under the hood.

Over the summer of 2000, I has the bus I had rode from 98-2000 in my back yard. I was using it as a backdrop for my senior pictures. I cleaned that bus inside and out and top to bottom and gave it, basically a complete detail. I had a small detailing business on the side at my house,so I had most of the stuff I had needed. It was a 1994.5 Navistar Thomas 71 pass model. The bus was pretty dirty and it was mostly stains and oxidation that normal washing wouldn't remove. The roof was the worst, it was chalky yellow and a bit faded, but with the right stuff, I brought it back to almost new. if I had known then, what I know now, I would have done it differently, and it would have looked 100% perfect. I could go on and on, but I don't want to put anyone to sleep. Have fun cleaning your buses,It can be really fun and I wish I had the chance to do it over again.

unlatching all the seats is too much work. I take a hose and spray everything out, then get about three buckets of soapy water, and dump them on the floor of the bus, then I take the brush that is used on the outside and scrub the floor, again get the hose and spray it out. Easier if parked on a hill so the water and soap goes out the back door. To wax your floor, and this work great for those BLACK floors, go to Family Dollar and get clear (liquid) wax. It can only be found at a Family Dollar store.

quote:unlatching all the seats is too much work. I take a hose and spray everything out, then get about three buckets of soapy water, and dump them on the floor of the bus, then I take the brush that is used on the outside and scrub the floor, again get the hose and spray it out. Easier if parked on a hill so the water and soap goes out the back door. To wax your floor, and this work great for those BLACK floors, go to Family Dollar and get clear (liquid) wax. It can only be found at a Family Dollar store.

Like I have said before, private contracted fleets do things differently. We have our own personal mechanic and some of us do the work on our buses. Besides we trade in for a new bus every five years. I know some that been out here for 20+ years and they have not come across any problems when washing out the floors. I think it is GREAT being your own boss. Don't have anyone telling you how to do things.

You guys get new buses every 5 years?? That sounds cool. Isn't it nice to own your own buses. I can relate to you because my whol district and pracitacally my whole state is that way. And I can't wait till I start which is less than 2 years away. You can be your own bus and get what you want a drive what you want.

~BlueBird44~Remember Bus Drivers play the most important role in a student's day.

School was out for us on May 30th and I haven't had a chance to start cleaning because she went into the repair shop and hasn't been back since!!!! I'm told the bill for parts alone is over $3,000!!!! She's 10 years old and had ALOT of things wrong. I always pull up the seats. Get the garbage out and wash down the frames. I do the ceilings and the floors, walls also. Then the seats and windows. Then I put a nice coat of wax on the floor. I use a brand called Holoway House. They have a nice wax and floor wash that doesn't strip the wax I put down when it's time to mop. Then I move to the outside. Give her a good wash job then I wax it myself. The kids the school hires for the summer do a really lousy job, so I don't allow them to touch my bus. After all it's out in public all the time and represents the town and school. Guesse I have pride in my ride!! This year, I'm going to experiment. I'm going to use a steam cleaning machine. It's supposed to even have a window cleaning attachment! Anyone else ever used one on the bus before? The few times I've used it, it's done a good job on whatever I was trying to get clean. Have a good summer!!

Hello! It's me again! I forgot to tell everyone that I use amorall around my drivers area. It's really hard to resist the urge to put it on the seats. I know it would be too slippery for my little darlings and they'd probably fall out their seats. I also use my own car wash stuff. I like turtle wax wash because it has wax in it. It helps maintain the wax job I put on it in the summer. I don't like the soap that we have to wash our busses with. It doesn't suds up. Yuck! Well, that's all for sure this time! Andriana

One little trick my grandmother told me about was to take a wooden paint stirrer stick to root out the trash that kids stick in between the seat and the wall of the bus. Just thought I'd pass that along!

Speaking of ArmorAll and waxing the outside - reminds me of a funny story that happened to me. The first year I drove, I was not sure about washing the bus, etc. So, I first hosed the bus down - which it was an old bus so that was ok. Then I Armoralled all the seats - steering wheel - my seat - everything! BIG mistake! First I could not drive the steering wheel was so slick. Then, if not for my seat belt, I would have slid out in the floor at every turn. My students slid and slid out of their seats. It was kind of funny, but I learned not to do that again! I also used purple power to wash my bus. I started on the back, and noticed after it was fading from yellow to yellowish pink, I stopped. Thankfully I only did one spot around the lights!! LOL

"With God behind us and His arms beneath us, we can face whatever lies before us."

i may be new at this but i drive a 20 passenger gmc bus and the seats do not pop up or unlatches itself and i have to be very careful with a sprayer due to the camera and vcr in the bus. anybody know a trick on this problem-.

Here in the south we have a major problem with mildew getting on seat covers, so far olnly that works is scalding clorox water. Was wondering is there anything else that may work. We are a private school so we do all of our washing and waxing which makes our 15 year old buses look as good as some new ones.

Don't use hot water with bleach - the heat of the water causes the bleach to evaporate, rendering it less effective. Use regular tap water - cold or warm, but not hot. Once you get the mildew off and the seats are dry, make sure the windows are closed every night.

I'm really liking the idea of using a wooden paint stir-stick for getting trash out from between the seats. Thanks, 1983 Ward Ford's Grandmother!

Warm wter and bleach will also seal the pores in the floor making it shine like new. If you hose down the inside and and park it on a hill on a sunny day it will dry really fast. On an older bus I use comet with an old scotch bright pad to remove the oxidation and road grime. It cleans great and wont scratch the paint.

Those frames prevent sweeping directly out from the center of the seat. Many drivers will sweep from the back, then the side, then the front. Those new style legs prevent sweeping out from under the seat from the side, and they also create a nice hiding place for dirt, candy wrappers, etc.

I just wish our garage had a vacuum in the wash bay that has a hose long enough to reach throughout the bus. Sweeping does enough to give it a clean appearance, but there's a lot of the tiny stuff that bothers me no matter how much I sweep.

There has been at least one bus broom designed with a contorted handle allowing the broom to go under the bus seats with little extra effort. As far as any improvements that can be made, I'm uncertain of any that are necessary. It would probably be better to improve the seat frames with minimal contact with the floor (not compromising safety of course) and no areas on the mounting brackets to collect/harbor dust, dirt, etc.